Policy Diffusion Literature Research Articles

Contagion From Abroad. How Party Entry in Western Europe is Influenced by Party Family Members Abroad, 1961–2016

New parties are a key mechanism behind party system innovation as voters are offered new choices. To explain party entry (i.e. participation in a lower house election for the first time), the state-of-the-art has typically focused on domestic determinants. This, however, assumes that party entry takes place in an international vacuum. Building on the policy diffusion literature, we explore how party family members abroad influence party entry in the focal country. Based on a new dataset on the evolution of each party family in 17 Western European party systems between 1961 and 2016, including 2191 new parties, our mixed-methods approach combining spatial econometric models with pathway case analysis demonstrates that party entry is influenced by the entry and electoral success of their party family abroad. This has important implications for the literature on party entry and the international diffusion of policy platforms.

Diffusion of climate policy integration in adaptation strategies: translating the EU mandate into UK and Danish national contexts

In this paper, we examine how the EU Climate Adaptation Strategy and especially its pivotal principle of policy integration of climate adaptation has diffused into the climate adaptation strategies of Member States. We explore how this quest for climate adaptation policy integration (CPI) was pushed by vertical diffusion of the framing and policy mixes launched at the EU level. To do so, we analyse and compare national climate adaptation strategies in two EU Member States—the UK and Denmark—during 2013–2021, which witnessed Brexit and increased attention to climate impacts. Conceptually and analytically, we draw on the policy diffusion literature centring on four potential drivers of vertical policy diffusion: interests, rights, ideology and recognition. Furthermore, to scrutinize what is diffused, we conceptualize climate policy integration including the rationale and policy instruments for climate policy integration. We find that both countries’ approaches to climate change adaptation have been shaped by rights-based diffusion in a mixture of shadow hierarchy, soft power and activation of other policy areas with binding directives and observe how what appears to be asymmetrical diffusion has strong elements of symmetrical diffusion. We further identify divergence between the cases before and after Brexit and in mandating local level actions.

China's nuclear exports: Understanding the dynamics between domestic governance reforms and international market competition

In the coming decades, China's nuclear energy expansion is expected to account for an increasing share of global nuclear growth. In addition to expanding domestic capacity, China aspires to become the world's important supplier of affordable nuclear reactors. The existing literature has evaluated China's nuclear exports but paid limited attention to the dynamics between domestic governance reforms and the international expansion of its nuclear technologies. Drawing on the policy diffusion literature, this study reevaluates China's nuclear exports by linking the evolution of the domestic governance system with China's changing status in the global nuclear regimes.On the one hand, China's export momentum and increasing engagement with global stakeholders have pushed domestic governance reforms. On the other hand, improved domestic governance helps China earn increasing international recognition, laying a solid foundation for China's nuclear exports in addition to its ambition to exert influence in global nuclear governance. Nevertheless, China's nuclear technologies still face the challenge of finding a market, as China's nuclear exports may only have minor advantages over those of other suppliers in relation to construction time and overnight costs while falling short in terms of financial and business innovations to attract potential buyers. Whether China can sustain its nuclear export momentum hinges on its capacity to further promote technology standardization, enhance safety regulation, encourage financial and business innovations, and push forward deeper-level governance reforms.

Global diffusion ofCOVID‐19 policies: The role of geographic, institutional, and cultural cues

AbstractIn an unprecedented global crisis, like the COVID‐19 pandemic, when vertical global governance plays a relatively minor role, government leaders must obtain policy information cues from other governments' behaviors horizontally. This study builds on the policy diffusion literature to examine the distinct role of geographic, cultural, and institutional peers in influencing a country's policy adoptions throughout a diffusion episode. We theorize that in the case of COVID‐19, policy‐culture fit enhances policy learning, leading cultural cues to exert a more pronounced diffusion influence than geographic and institutional cues over time. Our empirical analysis leverages worldwide data tracking the daily adoption of nine universal COVID‐19 non‐pharmaceutical policies from January 1, 2020 to June 1, 2021 in nearly 100 countries. We show that geographic and institutional proximity are initial sources of policy cues affecting adoption. But their effects fade over time while that of cultural cues grows in the later stage of a diffusion episode, illustrating the role of policy learning fueled by cultural fit. This research deepens our understanding of policy diffusion dynamics, shedding light on the role of national culture in policymaking and design in comparative policy studies.

The rise of the policy-takers: Universal service policy adoption in Jordan and Morocco

In the late 1990s, Jordan and Morocco revised their telecommunications regulation drastically. Though these regulations were first largely inspired by the European Union policy models, each country gradually developed more autonomy, individually tailoring their regulatory frameworks overtime. The case of Universal Service Obligation (USO) policies show that while Jordan remained aligned with the European Union, Moroccan policy-makers diverged from the European Union by adopting alternative policies, inspired by the Latin American reverse-auction models. Research focusing on Euro-Mediterranean regulatory contexts commonly expect neighbouring countries to converge with EU regulatory models. Yet, borrowing on policy diffusion literature and specifically the mechanisms of learning and imitation, this article shows that policy-takers intentionally decided on the (non)adoption of USO policies. Thus, research needs to take the role of policy-takers seriously and acknowledge avenues for bidirectional convergence.

Policy Diffusion in a Redistributive Policy: Affordable Housing and State Housing Trust Funds

Diffusion models explore the reasons policies transfer across governments. In this study, we focus on U.S. state level efforts in affordable housing. Drawing predominately from policy diffusion literature, our research examines the determinants of the creation of state Housing Trust Funds (HTFs). We utilize event history analysis with logit regressions and survival modeling to examine how problem severity, neighbor adoption, economic standing, elected leadership, housing investment, and demographics predict state HTF adoption. Results indicate that both problem severity and elected leadership predict the adoption of HTFs. This work improves our understanding of state policy diffusion and efforts in housing affordability.

Beyond market failure: rationales for regional governmental venture capital

ABSTRACT Why do regional governments establish venture capital funds? Government intervention in venture capital markets is traditionally legitimised by market failure rationales. In this paper, we analyse the supply of public and private venture capital in Dutch regions, which reveals a multiplicity of rationales for government intervention in the regional economy. We ground this in the policy diffusion literature and distinguish four rationales for government intervention: economic competition, coercion, imitation and learning. The findings enrich the analysis of regional government interventions and challenge the rhetoric that regional policies seeking to foster venture capital markets are solely implemented to address market failures.

Rethinking Islamist politics in North Africa: a multi-level analysis of domestic, regional and international dynamics

ABSTRACT Since 2011, considerable upheavals in domestic politics, shifting regional power balances and international shocks have been greatly affecting Islamist movements and parties coming to the forefront of the political arena in Tunisia, Egypt and Morocco. This Special Issue combines a more theoretical reflection upon the underappreciated interaction of domestic, regional and international factors with an empirical focus on the development of Islamists. It also enriches the case history of comparative politics analyses through the investigation of new relevant rational actors in countries whose political trajectories differ considerably. By opting for an inside-out perspective and actor-centered approach, we aim to overcome the ‘compartmentalization' of the three levels of analysis and the ‘obsession’ with moderation for Islamists. Borrowing a set of mechanisms first identified by social movement and policy diffusion literature, this introduction lays out the analytical framework informing all the contributions which is based on adaptation, learning, competition, and collaboration dynamics.

The Diffusion of Cultural District Laws across US States

With the increasing number of cultural districts as place-based policies, one of the first questions that arise is: why do some states adopt cultural district laws but not others? Exploring the difference in timing of adoption by each state, I examine the determinants of cultural district laws. Following the policy diffusion literature I test whether there is government, imitation, and learning mechanisms driving the adoption of cultural district laws in the United States. The results suggest the presence of government competition and imitation mechanisms. That is, government compete with those nearby and close in production structure, and learn from those similar to them.

The rise of the policy-takers: Universal service policy adoption in Jordan and Morocco

In the late 1990s, Jordan and Morocco revised their telecommunications regulation drastically. Though these regulations were first largely inspired by the European Union policy models, each country gradually developed more autonomy, individually tailoring their regulatory frameworks overtime. The case of Universal Service Obligation (USO) policies show that while Jordan remained aligned with the European Union, Moroccan policy-makers diverged from the European Union by adopting alternative policies, inspired by the Latin American reverse-auction models. Research focusing on Euro-Mediterranean egulatory contexts commonly expect neighbouring countries to converge with EU regulatory models. Yet, borrowing on policy diffusion literature and specifically the mechanisms of learning and imitation, this article shows that policy-takers intentionally decided on the (non)adoption of USO policies. Thus, research needs to take the role of policy-takers seriously and acknowledge avenues for bidirectional convergence.

SPID: A New Database for Inferring Public Policy Innovativeness and Diffusion Networks

Despite its rich tradition, there are key limitations to researchers' ability to make generalizable inferences about state policy innovation and diffusion. This paper introduces new data and methods to move from empirical analyses of single policies to the analysis of comprehensive populations of policies and rigorously inferred diffusion networks. We have gathered policy adoption data appropriate for estimating policy innovativeness and tracing diffusion ties in a targeted manner (e.g., by policy domain, time period, or policy type) and extended the development of methods necessary to accurately and efficiently infer those ties. Our state policy innovation and diffusion (SPID) database includes 728 different policies coded by topic area. We provide an overview of this new dataset and illustrate two key uses: (i) static and dynamic innovativeness measures and (ii) latent diffusion networks that capture common pathways of diffusion between states across policies. The scope of the data allows us to compare patterns in both across policy topic areas. We conclude that these new resources will enable researchers to empirically investigate classes of questions that were difficult or impossible to study previously, but whose roots go back to the origins of the political science policy innovation and diffusion literature.

Global diffusion, policy flexibility, and inflation targeting

ABSTRACT A diverse group of over 30 countries located all over the world—such as the UK, Colombia, and Ghana—introduced inflation targeting, which is a monetary policy that seeks to control inflation through a pre-announced target. Fully institutionalized democracies adopted the policy first because the core features of inflation targeting are consistent with the principles of a liberal democracy. But why was inflation targeting also introduced by less-democratic countries? This article develops the argument that decision makers of less-democratic countries became more likely to adopt inflation targeting when they observed that nearby countries increased the flexibility of the policy. The statistical analysis of data from 76 countries between 1989 and 2013 supports this hypothesis. The finding that the change of a policy toward a more flexible framework drives its global spread addresses a blind spot in the more recent policy diffusion literature.

Adopt or Not and Innovation Variation: A Dynamic Comparison Study of Policy Innovation and Diffusion Mechanisms

Policy innovation and diffusion literature mainly focuses on the decision to adopt a new policy, while ignoring the differences among new policies. This study divides the decision-making process of policy innovation diffusion into two phases: in the “innovate or not” phase, governments make the decision to adopt or reject the new policy, while “how to innovate” is the process by which governments formulate specific content for the new policy. A dynamic comparative analysis finds that effects of internal determinants and diffusion mechanisms vary during these two phases and that internal determinants moderate the effects of diffusion mechanisms.

Policy diffusion as empowerment: domestic agency and the institutional dynamics of monetary policy diffusion in China

ABSTRACTThe policy diffusion literature has often focused on external pressures on domestic policy. However, by analysing the evolution of China’s monetary policy regime, we demonstrate a pattern of highly selective diffusion that is largely shaped by domestic political and institutional dynamics. We use an historical institutionalist approach to probe how the most relevant institutionally embedded agents, in this case, those within the Chinese central bank, have strategically engaged with this process. We show how selective diffusion has been shaped by epistemic policy learning through international engagement by China’s central bankers, and, in particular, how they have strategically used imported policy ideas as an institutional empowerment strategy, furthering the interests and agenda of the People’s Bank of China.

Distinctive policy diffusion patterns, processes and actors: drawing implications from the case of sport in international development

ABSTRACTThis article examines the diffusion of “Sport for Development and Peace” (SDP) across sub-Saharan Africa following global policy impetus provided by international organizations, including the United Nations, since the start of the twenty-first century. In so doing, the article centres on a geographical region that has been unconsidered in the policy diffusion literature and, particularly, responds to calls for research into the effects of policy characteristics on diffusion mechanisms and patterns. This rationale beget methods that differed from the predominant use of quantitative, dichotomous indicators of policy diffusion, instead integrating data from global, international and national policy documents, from a review of SDP literature, and from stakeholder interviews in Ghana and Tanzania. Patterns of increasing governmental engagement with, but limited implementation of, SDP policies contrasted with the significant expansion of SDP provision by diverse NGOs. In turn, these patterns represented the varying influence of different diffusion mechanisms on state and non-state actors. Compared with the diffusion of other types of policies, these findings indicated the effects of an instrumental, malleable but complex global policy model for SDP diffusion. There is, therefore, significant value in further research that examines how policy diffusion may depend on the configuration of particular policy characteristics, mechanisms and actors.

A New Database for Inferring Public Policy Innovativeness and Diffusion Networks

Despite its rich tradition, there are key limitations to researchers' ability to make generalizable inferences about state policy diffusion. This paper introduces new data and methods to move from empirical analyses of single policies to the analysis of comprehensive populations of policies and rigorously inferred diffusion networks. We have gathered policy adoption data appropriate for estimating policy innovativeness and tracing diffusion ties in a targeted manner (e.g., by policy domain, time period, or policy type) and extended the development of methods necessary to accurately and efficiently infer those ties. Our State Policy Innovation and Diffusion (SPID) database includes 728 different policies coded by topic area. We provide an overview of this new dataset and illustrate two key uses: (1) static and dynamic innovativeness measures and (2) latent diffusion networks that capture common pathways of diffusion between states across policies. The scope of the data allow us to compare patterns in both across policy topic areas. We conclude that these new resources will enable researchers to empirically investigate classes of questions that were difficult or impossible to study previously, but whose roots go back to the origins of the political science policy innovation and diffusion literature.

Moves and Countermoves: Countermovement Diffusion of State Constitutional Amendments

Policy diffusion literature generally studies the adoption of similar policies across jurisdictions, but often overlooks how opposing policies or legal constraints may influence the enactment of rigid state constitutional amendments. The current study models the spread of state constitutional amendments designed to prevent future policy change. Using conditional event history analysis on all states from 1999 to 2011 the empirical models analyze the spread of same‐sex marriage prohibitive amendments across the United States. Findings suggest that the nearby adoption of opposing policies encourage state legislatures to introduce prohibitive amendments. The regional diffusion effect suggests that policymakers “protect” their jurisdiction from nearby diffusion forces or seek electoral gains by symbolic protection by committing an already existing policy into the rigid state constitutional framework. Regional policy diffusion may, therefore, be explained by a countermovement mechanism unique to the state constitutional amendment process. This protective strategy among state legislatures and citizens may explain why many policy areas are frequently codified in state constitutions.

Moving Beyond the Influence of Neighbors on Policy Diffusion: Local Influences on Decisions to Conduct Property Tax Reassessment in New York

Over the past few decades, research on policy adoption and diffusion has grown rapidly. Despite the relatively large number of publications, however, little attention has been paid to the important question of why a policy is differently implemented or diffused across governments. To answer this question and improve our understanding of local policy choice beyond widely cited neighboring influences, we closely examine the roles of three main policy actors—internal actors, external actors, and go-betweens—in the local policy diffusion process, drawing particularly upon property tax reassessment scenarios. In addition, we focus on nested institutional arrangements, including form of government and type of property tax assessor, that affect the policy decisions of internal actors. Using data on cities and towns in New York State for 1993-2010, we estimate event history models of property tax reassessment activities. Our findings reveal that regional interactions with neighbors that have already adopted the policy and top-down go-betweens through positive inducements can help facilitate property tax reassessment across municipalities. Reformed municipal governments in the council-manager form, along with appointed assessors, are also most likely to adopt reassessment policy frequently, compared with other institutional arrangements. Overall, this study advances the policy diffusion literature by exploring the roles of different influences through a more detailed, broader approach.

Europeanisation beyond the European Union: tobacco advertisement restrictions in Swiss cantons

AbstractThis article forges a link between support for European integration and adoption of tobacco advertisement restrictions in Swiss cantons. Leaning on the policy diffusion literature, this article argues that the more voters support deeper European integration, the more likely cantonal governments are to restrict tobacco advertising. Policymakers use voters’ support for more European integration as a signal that they support regulatory policies that are strongly associated with the European Union (EU) in the political and media debate, such as tobacco advertisement bans. This effect ought to be especially strong in the absence of adverse economic interests, such as the presence of the tobacco industry. To buttress these claims, the present article uses statistical analysis, specifically event-history analysis. Apart from the insights about Swiss tobacco control policy, this article contributes to our understanding of indirect EU influence on cantonal policymaking and policy diffusion.

Divergence and Convergence in the Diffusion of Performance Management in China

ABSTRACTThis research focuses on policy diffusion of performance management in authoritarian China. A three-stage theory of diffusion is proposed by conducting a process that traces divergence and convergence in the diffusion of performance management in China. When a superior government only has a policy goal, the inferior governments, competing for innovation, will develop divergent policy instruments. When the superior government’s policy goal and policy content seem clear, local governments, competing for loyalty or bandwagoning, adjust their diverged policy instruments to converged ones conforming to the superior’s policy content. Finally, when the superior government issues a systematic set of policy goals, content, and instruments, it may use coercive power to promote diffusion. In the process, when the contents of diffusion are different, the superior government applies different levels of coercive power, and the mechanisms, characteristics, and outcomes of diffusion also differ. This research claims that in authoritarian China, the superior government, as a third party in the process of policy diffusion, will play a more sophisticated role than is currently expected in the policy diffusion literature.